Media urged to fight Proclamation 1017

MEDIA organizations must band together and oppose Proclamation 1017 and any other attempt to curb press freedom, media advocacy groups and practitioners said.

The statements came following a police raid on the offices of opposition paper Daily Tribune before dawn Saturday.

Vergel Santos of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility told the Inquirer that Proclamation 1017 and the raid on the Tribune office was akin to tactics used during Martial Law.

Santos said media organizations must band together and oppose Proclamation 1017 and any effort to suppress press freedom.

Carlos Conde of the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said media must make a stand before the situation worsens.

“Media groups must come up with a unified stand. This is going to get worse. We are very, very worried and concerned about the implications [of Proclamation 1017] on press freedom,” Conde told the Inquirer.

He said the raid on the Tribune offices was meant to send a “chilling effect” to other media organizations.

“The government will use this as a sample to send a message to media to be careful not to displease Malacañang,” Conde said.